Citrus, floral gin with a slightly sour finish.
The recipe above has been my preferred recipe for some years. However, in early 2020, I decided that...
I feel like there must be something wrong with my taste buds. I just made this with 2oz gin (Aviation), 0.5oz maraschino (Luxardo), 0.5oz crème de violet (Rothman & Winter), and 0.5oz lemon juice, and I still felt like the lemon juice dominated the drink, followed by the maraschino. I will try dialing the lemon juice down even more next time.
And I agree about it never looking as purple in real life. I think all the online photos are of pure crème de violet in a glass.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that your photo was staged, yours is the only one that looks real. The photos on every other site, however... The one on Liquor.com and on Aviation Gin's site look like pure crème de violet in a glass.
My first aviation a few months ago was a massive disappointment, had to dump it! But I started to notice that any cocktail involving fresh lemon juice just didn't work for me, so I hunted down some posh lemons and ta da, all sorted. The only problem now is where to find a good supply of good lemons that don't involve me having to drive to the other side of town every time I want cocktail. Is there any way of bulk buying decent lemons and freezing them or anything. Any tips?
We get average lemons at the bar I work for. If I make a whiskey sour, I drop a small slice of orange in the shaker before shaking. It kinda rounds out the harshness in my opinion. I’m not sure if it would work on an Aviation. We never have Crème de Violet. Im definitely going to bring in my own bottle so I can try this recipe out.
I also used to think lemon in a cocktail, even a small amount, threw everything out of balance, often to the point of ruining the drink. That was before I started using Mayer lemons, and while I still tend to use rather less of it than the recipe calls for, the difference is amazing. Turns out I’m now very fond of the last word, and I LOVE an aviation!
This has become a favourite at home during lockdown after trying it at a local hostelry last year - they made it with Bombay Sapphire. Using such, I reduced the Giffard violet a tad to let the light cherry (Giffard Maraschino) also come through. The Luxardo I also now have - more spiritous and punchy, pairs extremely well with the stronger Rutte Gin whose floral/fruit notes are distinctive. All a balancing act in choice of brands – be prepared for some tilting of the wings!
Depending on how rich your sugar syrup, perhaps replace both creme de violet and sugar syrup in the recipe above with 10ml (1/3oz) of your violet sugar.
Was working with sub-par ingredients as in fresh frozen lemon juice (my own). Needed to balance the gin and being short on lemon I added some frozen orange juice (my own). Rather than tossing my citrus juice I freeze it for emergencies. As this was. Captured the herbaceousness quite nicely. Will do again.
I've always enjoyed anything violet flavored, so I was devastated that this came out decidedly soapy. The first time I've actually dumped a drink! Any suggestions on how to avoid this? Used Bombay Sapphire and Giffard Creme de Violette.
How would you adapt this recipe to someone who strongly dislikes gin and prefers vodka? I was going to try using the same ratios, but does anyone have any other suggestions?
Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to this Julie, but I've created a vodka-based "Clean Aviation" for you. I've added a link to this new recipe in Variant above.
And I agree about it never looking as purple in real life. I think all the online photos are of pure crème de violet in a glass.